The present invention relates to in-line roller skates and more particularly to an adaptive wheel suspension system that permits the skate""s wheels to deflect in the vertical plane.
In-line roller skates are well known in the art. The typical skate comprises a boot portion and a chassis connected to the boot""s sole for mounting typically four longitudinally aligned wheels. The wheels""axles are rigidly mounted to the chassis and as a result transmit considerable shock and vibration to the skater, with debilitating effects. Two approaches have been taken to shock absorption, one wheel based and the other chassis based. Wheel based solutions include the use of softer wheels (e.g. 72A to 74A durometer) or dual durometer wheels having an inner core of relatively softer material for shock adsorption and enhanced rebound. Chassis based solutions involve the use of mounts that permit some vertical movement of the wheels or the use of a shock absorber between the wheels and the boot, or a combination of both.
Soft wheels provide greater comfort but at the expense of speed. Dual durometer wheels are effective, but the amount of shock adsorption is nevertheless limited. Chassis that allow the wheels to deflect vertically are known, for example from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,582,418, 5,704,620 and 6,045,142. Each of these chassis also incorporate some sort of resilient shock absorbers such as springs in the case of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,582,418 and 5,704,620 and rubber bumpers 26 and 26xe2x80x2 in the case of U.S. Pat. No. 6,045,142. Earlier chassis solutions have gained limited commercial acceptance. Their complicated structure makes them expensive, failure prone and heavy. As well, the manner in which the wheels are suspended limits their adaptability to irregularities in the surface being traversed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,620 teaches a suspension based on an elliptical spring that allows the wheels to deflect independently, but the overall suspension is complicated and vulnerable given the abuse such skates normally receive. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,418, the wheels are bogeyed, but into front and back pairs, which limits flexibility, particularly during maneuvers, when independent movement particularly of the front and back wheels relative to the two interior wheels is desirable.
The present invention provides an improved chassis for an in-line roller skate with a suspension for the wheels that permits a greater degree of independent movement for each wheel to reduce shock and increase stability and maneuverability, while at the same time minimizing the number of wear and maintenance susceptible parts.
Accordingly, It Is an object of the present invention to provide a wheel suspension system that obviates and mitigates from the disadvantages of the prior art .
It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide a wheel suspension system that reduces shock and vibration without the use of resilient shock absorbing means.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a wheel supporting suspension that is adaptive to irregularities in the skating surface.
According to the present invention then, there is provided a suspension for the wheels of an in-line roller skate, comprising a frame member connectable to the boot of the skate, said frame member having a pair of parallel spaced apart rails extending in the longitudinal direction of the skate; a bogey for supporting at least one of the skate""s wheels, the bogey being suspended to be pivotable about a horizontal axis relative to said frame member; and beam members for supporting the skate""s leading and trailing wheels, pairs of said beam members being pivotably connected at one end thereof to said bogey, rotatably supporting one of said wheels adjacent the other end thereof and being pivotably connected to respective ones of said rail at a point intermediate said ends of said beam members.